Predecessor Blue Comet Last service April 1, 1995 | Status Discontinued First service May 21, 1989 | |
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The Atlantic City Express was an Amtrak train that ran from both New York City and Washington, D.C. to Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the Northeastern United States. The train operated on the Northeast Corridor from New York City and Washington, D.C. to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where it went east to Atlantic City.
Contents
History
The new service started service in May 1989, after Amtrak spent extra Northeast Corridor improvement funds to rehabilitate the 60.3 mile long Atlantic City Line from Philadelphia to Atlantic City. The train was designed to provide service to gamblers and vacationers. The train made a single local stop on the Atlantic City Line. Amtrak completely renovated the Lindenwold Station and it served as a stop until July 1994, when the local stop was changed to the new Cherry Hill station due to low ridership at Lindenwold.
Amtrak also operated some through services from Atlantic City to Richmond, Virginia and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In June 1990, Amtrak entered into a partnership with Midway Airlines to operate trains from Philadelphia International Airport to Atlantic City via SEPTA. However, the service was short-lived, as Midway Airlines went bankrupt in the summer of 1991.
The Amtrak service to Atlantic City never hit its expected ridership levels. In another effort to gain more riders, service was extended to Springfield, Massachusetts and New Haven, Connecticut. Although the trains were moderately successful, Amtrak still deemed that the poor showing of riders was not enough to warrant train service, and plans were made to discontinue the line. All Amtrak service to Atlantic City was discontinued after April 1, 1995. The following day, New Jersey Transit extended all Atlantic City Line trains to Philadelphia; previously only a select few had run west of Lindenwold.
ACES
A variant of the former Amtrak service, Atlantic City Express Service, began a weekend express train from New York Penn Station to Atlantic City on February 6, 2009. The service was sponsored by several casinos and was run by New Jersey Transit over the Northeast Corridor and the Atlantic City Lines, with a stop in Newark. The last train ran in September 2011, with the train formally discontinued in 2012.